Sunday, July 24, 2016

Eric Clapton has raised $45,000 for the family of former Asleep At the Wheel guitarist Johnny Nicholas by auctioning off one of two guitars he played during his 70th birthday shows at the Royal Albert Hall in London last year.

On July 23, Heritage Auctions in Dallas, TX confirmed the Fender Stratocaster sold for more than twice its pre-auction estimate.

Clapton offered the guitar to the Nicholas family to help raise money for medical bills and continued Leukemia research when Johnny's wife, Brenda, was diagnosed with the disease; sadly, she lost her battle last month.

A noted blues player, Johnny was a member of the Grammy-winning Asleep At The Wheel before he and Brenda settled in Texas Hill Country to raise their family. During his time with the band, Johnny became close friends with Clapton and their friendship has endured to the present day.

Todd Krause built the tobacco sunburst Masterbuilt Stratocaster for Clapton at the Fender Custom Shop in 2014.

Heritage Auctions described it as "nearly new with the exception of a few very light scratches on the back from Eric's playing the guitar."

The pickguard was signed by Eric in black Sharpie and is dated 2016. The sale also included the Custom Shop COA, original hard case, case candy and tool kit.